You asked, and we did our best to answer. With expansion underway, there were plenty of questions, too many in fact, to answer in one shot. If your question wasn't answered in this week's PWHL Mailbag, keep asking and we'll get to it soon.
Here's a look at Ian Kennedy's responses to your questions about all-things PWHL. Be warned, this is a long one.
Q: Many of the first ten stars signed were projected to be protected (if they had been, there would be far less outcry, imo). The resulting fan fallout has been predictably unkind. Should the league have formed an internal counsel and simply assigned players? (I assume the players may have driven much of the current process.) How could it have been different?
I don't think an internal counsel would have gone over well. Undoubtedly it would have created many concerns over transparency. There was enough confusion in year one around players receiving compassionate circumstance exemptions.
There were certainly other ways to expand that would have went over better with fans. The league wanted to make the new teams competitive, but I don't think they really understood their own product. The heart of this league isn't just the players, it's the people who happen to be the players. There's a ton of research out there showing that women's sports fans love the personalities, and knowing about the athletes as people, not just the on-ice action. It forms stronger connections to players than in men's hockey where players are thought of only as assets to be bought and sold. In that way, the league overplayed their hand in terms of giving Seattle and Vancouver far too much on-ice, and also ignored the impact this would have on existing fan bases by cutting so deep into their favourite people and players. Ideally, there would have been some protection for 2024 draft picks, even the first three rounds that are tied to salary tiers. I do think each team should have been given at least 1-2 more protections initially. Protecting even one line total including a goalie would have softened things for fans, and still would have enabled the competitive creation of two new tems. Even giving a second protection when teams made their fourth would have helped. It was just too deep of a cut. When some players in this league are making only $36,050, it's is a significant ask to uproot with no personal benefit. The league needed to expand, but I think everyone would agree that there were dozens of alternative plans that would have made the expansion teams competitive, and not upset fans to this degree. In my opinion, it was a poorly devised plan that cannot be repeated.
Q: I’m curious to know two things about the expansion draft and entry draft. How did they decide on the rules? Why weren’t rookies automatically protected referencing 2024 draftees? Who selects 1st overall this year?
First overall goes to the New York Sirens who earned the most draft position points through the league's "Gold Plan." After that however, no one knows. The league hasn't announced who will pick 2-8. Most existing teams believe the original intent was to give the expansion teams the second and third overall picks as well, but I can't foresee that happening without a revolt from fans. Current GMs weren't fond of the expansion rules either, and certainly would appreciate getting the higher draft slots to help rebuild their rosters.
As for the expansion draft rules, most of what you see was designed by the league's Hockey Operations department, which is led by executive vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford. It certainly wasn't Hefford alone, as the league now has a robust staff in all departments.
I don't think we'll ever know why 2024 draft picks weren't protected. It's highly unusual no matter what league or sport you're talking about, and asking young players to bounce from team to team isn't ideal for development. Although there are some, like Danielle Serdachny, who will benefit from a move, and she was allowed to make that choice. Still, the league in essence invalidated their own draft. I don't know if I'll feel as excited about the 2025 Draft knowing that more than 90% of those players could be up for grabs soon via subsequent expansion. If the league intends to keep these expansion rules, they should do away with the draft altogether like the NWSL has done, and allow players to choose their destination freely.
Q: Are there any updates on if Soderberg, Tulus, and Peslarova going back to Sweden next year?
Good question. The belief is Klara Peslarova is staying. There will certainly be a market for her whether it's New York or Ottawa who both need another goalie, or one of the two expansion teams.
The word around the league a few weeks ago was that Emma Soderberg informed Boston she was returning to Europe. We haven't seen a signing announcement yet however. SDE HF and MoDo were the two teams believed to be in the running for her services. The fact an announcement hasn't come yet tells me Soderberg might be willing to listen to PWHL offers, if any come. At the same time, in an Olympic year, it might be in her best interest to go to Sweden and play a lot.
As for Noora Tulus, it's pretty clear things didn't go as planned in New York, but there are many players who have gone to New York and saw themselves struggle. Tulus is very skilled, and I believe she has top six potential in this league. New York certainly will need her this year after losing significant offense in the expansion process. I wouldn't count her out yet. She was looking into a return to Europe, but remains under contract, and I don't think the PWHL will want to set precedent of allowing any player to freely break their contract.
Q: Is the SDHL overhyped as Tulus, Ljungblom, Nylén-Persson, have not met expectations along with Pejsova, Hymlarova to an extent?
No. The SDHL is the second best pro league in the world and outside of the NCAA, the best place for players to develop. What's important about the list you mentioned is that aside from Klara Hymlarova, it was the first season in North America for all of those players. The style, and particularly the ice surface are considerable adaptations that take time. Maja Nylén-Persson had a pretty good year, and Hymlarova really came on in playoffs. The others I'd still expect big things from moving forward. Daniela Pejsova was put in a really bad situation in Boston. The Fleet coaching staff need to reflect on how they develop young defenders. Look at Sophie Jaques. Boston gave up on her quickly after she struggled out of the gate and she's now a Defender of the Year candidate who worked her way onto Team Canada. Pejsova has so much upside. I thought she'd be an elite defender in the league by the New Year, but things haven't been easy for young defenders in Boston.
Back to your original question, the jump from the SDHL to the PWHL is significant. Fourth line players in the PWHL are first line players in the SDHL. There remains 5-10 impact players in that league whenever (or if ever) they decide to come to North America. Some like Petra Nieminen are built for the PWHL and would thrive.
Q: Do you expect there to be a busy free agency unlike last year?
100%. Not only does every team have at least four roster spots to fill, but they all now have the money to spend in free agency. If you consider teams like Minnesota, Ottawa, and New York, they all lost players making over $80,000 this year, some well above, and they also lost players in the $50-60,000 range. Most teams will have between $150,000 and $200,000 to work with, which means they could bring in a few players at or near the league average of $58,349, and still have money to re-up others and sign their draft picks. In this league, the majority of players are making under $45,000, so getting into the $50s would entice a lot of players. Most teams have internal re-signing that will be the priority, and players who want to stay will now be able to and still get paid, but some teams will look to change things up. Hannah Miller will still be a prime target of PWHL Vancouver, and dozens of players across the league like Tereza Vanisova, Susanna Tapani, Kali Flanagan, Michela Cava, and Kati Tabin will certainly be getting offers. Many have already been fielding calls from the expansion teams, and GMs across the league. If there's ever a year that we'll see a significant shuffle, this is it.
Q: Will this expansion water down the league to the point where the game will be less enjoyable to watch? What is the probability that a number of teams will have a worse product on the ice?
Every team added at least 4-5 new players last offseason. In a way, the difference in on-ice product will be like a return to the league's inaugural season. PWHL Vancouver and PWHL Seattle are going to be better teams than this league is used to seeing, and there are other teams that will come out of this alright. This draft only has 6-10 elite players. Beyond that, there's another 20 who will make an impact, but most of those players will struggle to hit double digits in points. It's the second half of the draft, and the top 10-15 undrafted players who will really be challenged, but I don't think there's going to be a noticeable drop in the on-ice product, nor the enjoyability of the league. The biggest difference will be that parity will no longer exist as it has. The league threw a wrench in parity unfortunately. I think we'll see a few teams sink to the bottom a bit quicker this season with a bigger divide between the haves and the have nots. Every team will still be able to beat every team like in the NHL, because they're all pros. Don't expect a noticeable drop, but expect the stars to stand out more, and some teams to struggle more than they have.
Q: Do you think the league is paying attention to original six fans upset by the way expansion has gone down? Do you think they forecasted this?
It was hard. Fans were going to be upset to lose any player, let alone four of their best. That said, I've never seen this reaction in any other league. The fact each team gave up four players was one thing, but four players from the top of their roster is where it really got impactful. Nobody thought it would be Sarah Nurse and Hilary Knight, or Danielle Serdachny or Sophie Jaques, well, really, list any player signed in the initial window and fans probably didn't think those players would be involved. I don't think the league in any way forecasted this level of backlash...but as I said above, I also don't think the league is as in touch with the needs or wants of their fans as they thought. Look at what happened in Minnesota. They lost a lot of fans over the Natalie Darwitz ouster, and forged ahead without fully addressing what went on.
That said, the league has at other times, when the chorus is this consistent, shown that they are listening. If they weren't, we'd be cheering on the Boston Wicked, Toronto Torch, and Minnesota Superior right now. There was a consensus in the initially leaked team names, like there is here. The problem is, the league was able to salvage that situation. This time they can't. The players are gone, expansion is done, and they're not coming back.
All the league can do now is learn from how poorly this was received, and recognize they misjudged the impact to existing teams and how unfairly advantageous this process was to the new teams for their next round of expansion. Protecting existing teams and fan bases is equally or more important than stacking an expansion team. New fan bases would be thrilled to have a good team this year and build through the draft and free agency before contending a year or two down the line. Instead they have great teams and the existing teams are the one's that will be scrambling to find their way back.
Q: Wondering if Vancouver and Seattle are going to have team names before next season, or if they will just go by the cities for the first season?
Great question. When the PWHL originally launched, the laundry list of to-dos was extensive. Team names and logos were well down the priority list, and in year one and two the league knocked it out of the park with their product. They put the priority on the players and it was the best thing the league could have done. When names came, people were excited, but the league didn't sacrifice what really matters in order to rush other items. One thing that the league discovered in year one was that the name recognition they gained through having every team with the PWHL prefix got the league's brand out there in every news article, social media post, and radio or television conversation there was. They might actually see value in starting that way in Seattle and Vancouver. Plus, it was an interesting way to get fans to buy a generic market based jersey in year one, and also buy the branded merchandise in year two. The league wants to get these names right. So while I expect there will be names, I would not be surprised if this is something that comes later.
Q: I am not familiar with PWHL trade history or framework. Do you see trades likely after the expansion process? As I understand, draft picks are off the table. Some overall clarity would be welcomed. I do understand the relatively closed nature of the league and the resulting vagaries.
It's a common frustration among media and fans that there are no public facing bylaws, policies, or procedures related to player eligibility, the draft, free agency, trades, contracts, and a plethora of other items. In fact, aside from the on-ice rulebook, the league just doesn't have policy or procedures available to see. Some of it has been pieced together by those who closely follow the league, but it frequently changes unannounced. It makes it very difficult to know what's coming. As weird as this sounds, I get as many questions about rules from coaches, agents, and even general managers as I do from fans. The league is still catching up here, and the teams all feel like things change too often on the fly without warning. There are times when that's exactly what happens. An issue arises, and the league has to make a rule to respond.
I don't expect any trades in the expansion process. The expansion teams need to get a roster in place and see how the players they selected look as a group. It would not be surprising to see the expansion teams become active trade partners next year during the season, but I don't think we're going to see many, if any offseason deals. There can be trades on draft day, like we saw with Boston moving up last year in a deal with New York, but probably not a good chance for deals on draft day either as all teams need their picks to fill holes.
Q: NHL officials can sometimes stink, but rarely get in the way of the action. Far too often--I don't think I'm crazy--watching games on the YouTube feed, I see an official flat-out get in the way of a player, usually on the cycle. Far too often. How does the PWHL handle selection of, training of, and improvement of the officiating? That feels like an area that detracts from the quality of the league itself.
Last September the PWHL also held their first officials camp in Denver to, as the league stated "strengthen the consistent application of the league’s standard of play." The camp featured a ton of experienced individuals sharing their knowledge. That included, to your point on positioning, Scott Driscoll and Dean Morton, members of the PWHL's situation room facilitating sessions on central situation room rules and officials positioning. The league also hired Katie Guay as Associate Director of Officiating for the league, joining Director of Officiating David Taveroff . It shows they're still adding to their staff dedicated to improving this area.
PWHL officiating is certainly inconsistent. It's clear there's work to be done, but every year we should see improvement in this area if the league continues to educate their referees and linespeople, and keeps their roster consistent. With new rules, including finding the line for bodychecking in the league, there have certainly been growing pains, and the PWHL's officiating is not yet at the level a world class league deserves. The fact the PWHL has 39 referees compared to the NHL's 35. Considering the NHL has 32 teams and 1,312 total games compared to the PWHL's 90 games and six teams, referees aren't seeing enough PWHL action to get better quickly enough. The league will hopefully rapidly pare down their roster of officials and have a more dedicated group that can provide consistency. Ideally they'd hire a group that only officiate in the PWHL without jumping between leagues and rulebooks.
Right now the PWHL shares officials with other leagues which, I believe, is part of the issue with consistency. The league launched using AHL officials, and select officials from other levels of the game out of Hockey Canada and USA Hockey's jurisdiction. These pools continue to be their main groups for officials.
Q: How does general free agency work? Is there an exclusive signing window for a team’s pending free agents? Are the teams not allowed to extend their free agents during the season? Seems weird to see Vanisova, Tapani, Miller etc not extended already …
Last year there was a window of time when teams could negotiate with the players on expiring contracts prior to the official opening of free agency. While expansion teams were doing their roster building this week, the other six PWHL teams were also allowed to speak to free agents. With free agency to open sometime soon after the June 24 draft, the league has yet to announce if there will be an opportunity for teams to re-sign their players before it becomes an open market. At the moment, it seems like re-signing your own players is off the table, which makes little to no sense. Perhaps teams will be able to sign re-sign players after the expansion draft, because otherwise any signed players would also need to be eligible for selection. There is even confusion among the original general managers related to what they are and aren't allowed to do right now. I think the league is focused solely on getting through the expansion roster building process, and then many questions like yours will be answered. There's a lot going on right now, and there will be time to re-sign later. In reality, I'd expect many of these free agents to listen to test the open market since they know there's money available. It would take a very strong offer and a player who is 100% tied to a market to re-sign right now.